Witch Mountain Reboot Pilot Greenlit at Disney+ With Bryce Dallas Howard and More

Disney+ has greenlit a Witch Mountain reboot pilot based on the film franchise of the same name, with Bryce Dallas Howard in the lead role. Witch Mountain is the latest in a series of projects for Howard with Disney. She’s previously directed episodes of the Star Wars series and  and starred in the live-action . She’s also set to make her feature film directorial debut on Disney’s Flight of the Navigator reboot. The Jurassic World is joined in the pilot’s cast by Isabel Gravitt (The Watcher), Levi Miller (Streamline), Bianca “b” Norwood (WeCrashed), and Jackson Kelly (Straight Man) as series regulars. 

The attempt to modernize the property follows “two teens that develop strange abilities and discover their sleepy suburb may not be as idyllic as it seems.” Travis Fickett and Terry Matalas (Star Trek: Picard ) co-wrote the pilot and will serve as executive producers. Augustine Frizzell is directing and also executive producing. Davis Entertainment’s John Fox and John Davis of Davis Entertainment are also executive producers on the pilot, along with Gary Marsh. The ABC Signature is producing the Disney Branded Television series.

The attempt to modernize the property follows “two teens that develop strange abilities and discover their sleepy suburb may not be as idyllic as it seems.” Here are descriptions of the characters provided by Disney in a press release:

• Bryce Dallas Howard (lead) as “Audrey,” Tia’s devoted and loving mother.  Her husband died from a mental illness and she tries to reassure a fretful Tia that she shows no sign of following her father’s dark spiral. A warm mama bear type, but like everyone in this town, not everything is as it seems. 
• Isabel Gravitt (series regular) as “Tia,” a straight-A student who’s regarded by her classmates as “perfect,” although she regards herself as flawed. She’s terrified of failure and is plagued by nightmares and fears that her late father’s schizophrenia is starting to exhibit itself in her. Tia has “hallucinations” in which people around her step outside their living bodies and voice their deepest, darkest fears and desires and rages.
• Levi Miller (series regular) as “Ben,” a troubled teen who makes ends meet by writing papers for other students but he’s got a hot temper and if he slugs another student, he’ll be expelled. Ben is best friends with Corey, his co-worker at the diner. He’s recently made a troubling discovery about himself, he can force others in his vicinity to move according to his will and there’s something drawing him inexplicably in the direction of Tia.
• Bianca “b” Norwood (series regular) as “Corey,” Ben’s closest friend, an outsider with tattoos, Corey is a very mature teen who comes across older than they are. They are one step away from expulsion and puts more care into looking like a My Chemical Romance song that became an anime fan.  Corey works at the local diner alongside Ben and is in his circle of trust, but doesn’t appreciate it when he tries to act as their protector. 
• Jackson Kelly (series regular) as “Peter,” Tia’s closest male friend. Peter is lovesick on the subject of Tia, but she’s unaware of his charms, and equally unaware of his devotion. But when Tia expresses her concerns about the seemingly impossible happenings around them, she learns that Peter’s observant, cautious nature might be an asset in figuring out the mystery around them.

Witch Mountain is a sci-fi/fantasy adventure property based on Alexander Key’s 1968 novel Escape to Witch Mountain. The films typically focus on alien children attempting to return to their homeworld while antagonists give chase. The original trilogy of movies — 1975’s Escape to Witch Mountain, 1978’s Return from Witch Mountain, and 1982’s TV movie Beyond Witch Mountain — told a three-part story. Disney’s Escape to Witch Mountain, released in 1995, and 2009’s , each remade the original Escape to Witch Mountain movie as a standalone story.